Recon

So a couple of weeks ago I ran down to Charleston to do recon before my trip to CA.
I am flying out of the Charleston airport and I have never been there before, so I wanted to find it, and the long term parking lot, before I go.
I also wanted to go downtown to Charleston and walk around a little bit. See the things I missed the first (and last) time I went.
The third thing I wanted to do was drop by The GATE salon and see some hairstylist friends to talk about the new color line I'm using.

I wandered around downtown Charleston, and went into the City Market. They are doing some construction, but I still got to wander a few stalls.  The new fans they put in must help some in Summer, tho I was already getting hot, and it was not very crowded.

I walked King Street, and had a little lunch before walking down to the Battery, and Battery Park.  Turns out, that was about 18 blocks. UGH! it was like 90+ degrees. :(  I got some cool window box photos tho, and I'm glad I got to see more, but I really got overheated, and was glad for the breeze down by the water.

I loved the different textures and how preserved all the Historic homes were.  It was just too hot for me.  I will have to go back again in the Spring time and hopefully get some more shots in better weather.

Next, I went to the airport. Uh, yeah, SUPER small airport! lol

It looks really big on the maps, because it's next to (or shares land with) the Air Force Base.  Well, I'm glad I went, because it will be easy to get to and parking is very close. I won't need 2 hours before hand. It's seriously like Orange County airport WAY back. I think 2 terminals. Ha!

Then I went to visit the hair stylist friends, and talked a little shop.

I have switched my color line to Keune.  I hadn't heard of them before, but they are a Dutch company that's been around since the 20's.  I even read they were the first to make a cold wave perm! huh!

They have a new education center opening today actually, in Altanta, GA, where their distribution center is located.  They are excited for an expanding US business, and they will be offering some great support for stylists.  They also have some really innovative technology that is supposed to keep color in the hair longer.  I am excited, and I am loving the results so far! 

This last week I have been super busy at the salon! Yay! I am loving the new place, and hope it keeps getting better! 

I have been adding photos to my etsy store. Go check it out! 

Today I drove out to a photographer friends' house to pick up some equipment (and get some coaching) to do a newborn session! Yikes! My first.  I'm not that nervous, because they know me and I don't boast AMAZING results. hehehe

They are clients of mine, a sweet lesbian couple, and I can't wait to meet their new daughter! 

Hopefully all will go smoothly, and I will ask if I can use a couple of shots to post here. Fingers crossed!

That's what's happening here.  We are HOT, and I'm not ready for it.

Coming to CA for a visit in July. I have pretty much every day booked up, but of course I hope to be back again soon to see anyone I don't get to on this trip.

Hopefully Chris and I will be moving into a house in the next few months, and you can come here and stay with US! :)

Be back soon! :)

Summer Vacation!

Last weekend Chris and I went to Myrtle Beach for a little vacation! His brother rented a house for the whole family to get together. 5 bedrooms, 3 baths for 12 people! We had 19 when Chris' Uncle, Aunt, and cousins came over! :) It was FUN! It was also our first official vacation together!

We stayed at a place called Ocean Lakes Campgrounds and it is HUGE! 310 acres of houses, RV spaces, camping, and people! (we were in C4 see map...one block from the beach) They have an arcade, a small miniature golf course, a big pool and (the coolest) kiddie pool, horseshoes, basketball, shuffleboard, etc, etc... Tons of stuff to do, when it's not a billion degrees outside, and it was a billion degrees outside. (it felt like it) And HUMID. I have never felt that much humidity ever. Just being outside for a couple of minutes my feet were wet in my flops!

Anyway, it was hot, but we were at the beach. :)

I was really excited to see what the beach was like on the East Coast, and there are a few differences.


1. The dunes and dune fences. The dune fences are so cool, and I loved taking pictures of them. They were the main subjects of my pictures.  (I did a whole series of dune shots you can see on my Flickr page)

2. Small waves, warmer and shallower water. I think it's the continental shelf, but you can walk out quite a ways before having to swim, unlike in CA, but not as far out as Hawaii.

3. More shells on the shore. You know how in CA as the tide goes out you can find the sand crabs by the V's in the sand? Well here, there are air holes, and if you dig, you find little bean clams! They're alive and have little mollusks in there, and if you set it down, you'll see it scoot itself back down into the sand! It's fun! I found a video on YouTube if you want to see it.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V8xm_6ht_I&feature=related

4. People go down early and set up canopies and chairs. Not just umbrellas like I'm used to, but good size canopies.

Now at this place, the golf cart is KING. Everyone has at least one. We rented 2. We parked some of our cars in overflow parking, and from then on, it was walk or cart! We had so much fun out in these carts!

It was a fun way to see the whole grounds, and cool down with the wind in your face! Some people own some over the top golf carts, and we could see some of these during the nightly teenager golf cart 'cruzin' up and down Ocean Blvd! HAHAHA! it was so funny!! from about 7:30 pm til 11:00 pm (curfew) a constant parade (hundreds!!) of golf carts full of kids holding out their hands for 'five' and teenagers being 'seen'. One night Chris and I tried to get in it, but by the time we found the end of the line, (far away) we sat, thought better of the whole thing, and took off. So funny.

I loved getting up early with my camera and jumping in a golf cart to go looking for places to take pictures. Then sometimes Chris and I would go out alone or with others to just cruise around. It was nice at sunset too.

So we hung out with family, ate, went down to the water, swam, picked up shells, played poker, went to the arcade, cruised, took pics, and had a nice relaxing time until we left on Tuesday.

Chris had the rest of the week off, and I was back to work on Weds. It was a lovely, and I'm so thankful to Chris' brother and family for such a fun time!

(ugh, I know this is a terrible pic of me, but wanted you to see our group!)

I hope you are all having a nice Summer, and tho I hear SoCal had a short heatwave, I hear it's quite cool at the moment, and I would like to say :P

I still hope to come back for next Summer and the Fair. Go say Hi to the Fair for me!

XOXO! Kelly

Summer is upon us!

Here in the South it feels less like there are days to go, and more like it's here. HOT. Humid. Two of my least favorite words. :(

But, the a/c is working, keeping us sane, and the things we like about Summer are making it tolerable.
Things like fruit, the beach, vacations, longer days, etc....

Since I last wrote, I had that root canal. My first, and hopefully last for a good while. I think my anxiety was WAY worse than the actual procedure. I mean, it really wasn't all that terrible. The endodontists now have topical anesthetics to ease that first shot, electronic 'wands' that deliver novocaine (numbing me to my EYE), little 'bridge' things to rest your jaw, and being able to bring your iPod is priceless!
I had all kinds of things in my mouth but still managed to convey to the Doc that 'dit ih da bet roo canaw I eba ha!!' LOL!
I sure was sore the next day tho.... One more visit to remove the plug, patch the crown, and hopefully that's the last of the medical stuff for this year!


June has started in a fun way, with the first weekend being a photo weekend.

iHeartfaces is a blog/website mostly for photographing Mom's, but the tutorials, and freebies are enjoyed by everyone. They had a PhotoWalk on the 5th of June across the country, with groups in many major cities, including Columbia, SC and Orange County, CA! :)

We met from 9-11am, and it was nice to meet other photogs from this area. We walked Main St. down to the Statehouse, and took pics of whatever we saw. One woman in our group (Jennifer) showed up 9 months pregnant 4cm dialated!! That's dedication! lol (not to worry, there is a hospital one block off Main St). It must have helped tho, she delivered Sunday night! She was our model for a bit on a really cool bench in the old arcade mall. For photo people reading, it was the first time I ever shot in Manual. ONLY. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, and I kept it up all weekend.

I think it's fun to be a tourist in your own town. Get out there and walk around! You see all kinds of things you might never know existed!! I know it was cool for Chris (when I came to visit) to see his State and town through the eyes of someone who's never seen it before.

Right after the walk, I went home, gathered my things and Chris and we drove out to Beaufort. We stayed with Chris' Mom, and had a fun family night on Saturday with his Sister, brother in law, and neice. We love to laugh.

Sunday morning I had a photo 'play date' with my flickr friends Tina and her daughter Melissa! They are so fun.

We went to Hunting Island State Beach, and then all around Beaufort to their favorite spots for me to photograph! :)

I'm very much looking forward to them coming out to visit me next month, when we'll go to the botanical gardens and the butterfly exhibit!

It was a fun but tiring weekend.

Hands up if you're watching the World Cup!!! :)

I feel just as excited about the WC as I do about the Olypics! I love watching National teams compete. Soccer is a pretty cool game. Hockey on grass for me! heheh

I want to wish a Happy Birthday to all friends and family born in June!

I hope you are all staying cool, and ready to have a great Summer!

Snow in SC!!

I have never lived anywhere it snows. Well, you know, on my residence. Until NOW!! :)


I know many of you are not so happy when it snows, because it stays for months, and can be a mess, but when you don't get more than an inch of snow in over 7 years, it's quite something! It was a Friday night, which was great, because it was AFTER most people got home from work, and didn't have to do much on Saturday.

Chris and I were like little kids! YAY! Snow!!!! OMG! SNOW!! lol I grabbed my camera and we jumped in his truck to go see it! We drove around the neighborhoods behind us and I jumped in and out taking pics! We just loved how beautiful everything was!

We got home and put on more clothes and beanies, and headed out for a walk around the complex! It was coming down GOOD! WE did the happy dance, and went to bed knowing the world would be magically transformed in the morning!

And it was!

I got up early and headed out to catch the sunrise! Oh what a beautiful morning! (sing it!)

I walked all around the complex and took a bajillion pictures! Yes, it's a number...
I just couldn't get over how much, and how beautiful it all was with the sun coming up!





So, I came back in, got Chris up, had some more coffee, and told him I really wanted to go to the State House to see it with snow, and he agreed to take me!

The sun had been up just a few hours, it was still before noon, but it wasn't freezing, so the snow was melting by the hour. We got to the State House to find plenty of snow left on the grounds, but not so much on the dome any more. Beautiful, still, and serene as we walked around the grounds.








It sure is lovely.

We actually had ANOTHER snow in March! It wasn't much, came late at night, and was gone by the morning, but two snows in one year! Pretty cool for us.

Love you all!